Bathurst will be well represented with the NSW Breeders Challenge 2YO semi finals take centre stage at Menangle on Saturday night.
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Four semi finals will be held at the 10-race meeting, with two for fillies and two for colts and geldings.
The likes of local trainers Michael Muscat, Steve Turnbull and Bernie Hewitt all have chances featuring at the meeting and will be hoping their horses will be able to book themselves a spot in the finals.
While the betting odds are stacked against him, Muscat has an entry in a fillies semi final and a colts and geldings semi final.
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Africana is set to line up in the fillies run, the fifth race of the meeting, which will be across 1609 metres, while Bling It Up will feature in the colts and geldings semi final, also across 1609 metres.
Incredibly, both chances are the long-shot outsiders, backed at $201 by the punters to claim victory, meaning Bathurst's Mat Rue, who has the drive for both of Muscat's chances, will have to work extra hard to claim victory in both races.
Africana will start from barrier seven in the front row and while the odds aren't in his favour, form is, having won her last start at Parkes on October 4.
That win at Parkes was actually the filly's first ever win, after a number of close misses at the same track last month.
Africana has only come into Muscat's stable in recent times, having five runs since coming over from Cameron Hart's stable in late August.
Russell Jack's Captains Queen is the favourite at $1.80.
Bling It Up's form isn't that bad either, having picked up two wins in his past five runs, with a second place at the Bathurst Paceway on October 6.
Rue, who's in the gig for the gelding on Saturday night too, drove Muscat's chance to victory in those two wins, both at Bathurst on August 20 and September 3.
The gelding has achieved two wins, two seconds and a third from his 11-race career so far.
Jarrod Alchin's My Ultimate Byron is the favourite at $1.10.
The colts and geldings semi finals will be run at 7.48pm and 9.23pm (the latter involving Bling It Up) and the fillies semi finals will be run at 8.21pm and 9.53pm (the former involving Africana).
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